City Leadership 101

City Council Leaders this one is for you. As we stand on the cusp of continued development here in the North Jefferson area, I would like to offer sincere and heartfelt congratulations to all who hold an elected position in our community. Now get busy.

We have discussed here before that when accepting an appointment to be on a board or agreeing to hold membership on a council as an elected official is not the time for a Cinderella appointment or a full blown exhibition of the Peter Principle. It is indeed a privilege and one that should be approached with strength and humility. The challenge here is to realize that all goals and jobs come with training and this role is not any different. Please seek out tools to help you understand how to do this job at a very high level, and to grow in the value that you bring.
You will be under scrutiny, but that is not a bad thing. Think of scrutiny as a fancy word for campaigning and holding people to account for what they said or should be doing. You are of course representatives of the people to the town hall. You are not representatives of the town hall to the people.
And of course, no one will tell you what to do, but they will blame you when something does not get done. Previous New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani put it best when he said, “Give me a leader whose nose has been bloodied over someone who is totally perfect.”
Sometimes, you may be told what to do, but beware the snare of “consensus” thinking. According to Margaret Thatcher, “Consensus is the negation of leadership.” Most think this fine lady knows what she is talking about still. Even President Ronald Reagan took the time to listen to her.
Your purpose is to not do things to people, as it is to engage people in the change. It can be seen in something as fundamental as a Community Development Plan. Did the plan come from some educated and high advised third party? Is it dusty and twenty years old? That may be fine, but it will only be effective if the city leaders get buy-in from the community. Simply put, take the time to ask. This means recognizing that people are the heart of directing resources and making decisions, therefore people, rather than strategies or theories should be at the heart of transforming outcomes in a place.
As our North Jefferson area continues to grow and develop, we cannot take for granted what it will look like in twenty years. As Freud would say, there are no accidents. There are also many political realities to continue to simmer and ponder upon as we move into the next election cycle. Mr. Councilman, do you have a succession plan? Ms. Council Woman how will you control the change? And can you both recognize the talent that you will need to end up where you aim? Groucho Marx said it well when he quipped, “Only one man in 1,000 is a Leader of men, and the other 999 follow a woman.”

The More Things Stay The Same.......

Our recent remembrance of 9/11 brought back many stories of courage. It is an event in our collective memory that will not soon fade as we recall tales of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Something struck me as very compelling as I watched the news coverage off and on last week on 9/11. Looking at the economic indicators for 9/11/2010 they were remarkably similar to the benchmarks recorded on 9/10/2001, the day before our attack. The Dow closed on 9/10/01 at 9605.41, and closed on 9/11 of this year a bit above 10,000. Not that far off. People were coming and going to work and school much in the same way that we are doing today.

But there are some differences that are striking though. In 2001, home ownership was common and existed as the primary savings investment of the average American. Financial crisis was triggered then by some business excess inventory or the more typical corporate malfunction or malfeasance. Now it is different. Now the instability is of a different nature. Now 1 in 7 homeowners are at risk of loosing their home. Now we have pervasive mistrust of government and its ability to put us back on track. There is pervasive mistrust of the ability of our fiscal policy to right any looming financial wrongs. According to Mort Zuckerman, CEO of Boston Properties and interviewed on Fox News (9/11/10), “The country has not forgotten. But we have lost our sense of unity. Now is not the time for everyman for himself.”
Listen to Bill Johnson, CEO of HJ Heinz, with his direct, no nonsense perspective on the effects this has on business. According to Johnson, put simply, there remains a lack of consumer confidence. Business is not buying. Business is waiting on concrete, structural change from leadership that will encourage spending. Short term policy fixes just do not work. Look at the 2003 Bush Taxcut effects for example. As businesses knew these cuts would be around 7-8 years, we saw the economy rise. It is not surprise that the economy stalls when there is discussion of removing those cuts. Consumers have basically gone underground and are looking for long term, predictable, sustainable policies. We would be wise and advised to remember this if short term economic stimulus is put into place to put a nice blush on the rose just in time for election only to see it whither and fall as soon as the ballot box closes.

According to previous Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, we are indeed safer because of the Patriot Act and cooperation around the world, but mainly because of the work of individual men and women like you and me. Men and women, who work hard, take care of their families and each other remaining constantly vigilant and engaged. The alert individual, paying attention to the daily details as we have learned, is more valuable than any government agency or watchdog. The big message here: if you find yourself in the next big storm, don’t wait for someone to pluck you from your roof. Prepare for the storm in advance. Now is the time to take inventory of your financial house and work to educate yourself. It is okay to demand more of yourself, and I would submit that it is okay to demand more of our politicians. And perhaps now is a good time for our politicians to demand more from themselves.

And remember, take care of your customers, or someone else will.

Has it been a while since you attended a Chamber of Commerce meeting? How about the Wednesday morning meeting of the North Jefferson Business League? I had the opportunity to participate with two of these groups this week and in addition to catching up with several of the area business owners and leaders in the area, I learned a thing or two about topics relevant to staying competitive in business today.

The North Jefferson Business League presenter was Dr. Rudy Guess of the Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church. Dr. Guess shared with us some of his research and ideas on the scriptural directives for leadership. Pulling from the Book of Genesis, he relayed the story of the selection of Rebecca as the wife of Isaac. The story of Rebecca if you have not read it lately concerns the visit of a young woman to a watering well in the village. Off in the distance is the servant of Abraham, tasked with the job of choosing a wife to bring back to marry young Isaac, son of Abraham. Unsure of how to discern which young woman to choose, he is feverishly praying for God to help with the endeavor. “Please, God of Abraham,” prays the servant, “If she be the one, let her ask to bring me a drink of water.” As the story, unfolds, Rebecca is the only young lady among the several at the well who asks to bring the stranger some water. The leadership message comes in the next thing that Rebecca does. She offers to not only bring the stranger water (which for those times is customary), but she also offers to water his camels. This is the “goes the extra mile” message that centered on the leadership focus for Dr. Guess. Always a gifted speaker, Dr. Guess made the visit to North Jefferson Business League this week time well spent. We all need a good dose of “going the extra mile” with our customers and staff, and it is refreshing to know that the directive has changed little in 6,000 years.

The second learning event for me this week was at our Fultondale Chamber meeting. This week we enjoyed a visit by two leaders from the US Chamber of Commerce, Moore Hallmark and Patrick Gartland. I have met both Moore and Patrick at previous events sponsored by the Business Council of Alabama and the Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama, and they agreed to visit with us in Fultondale as we work to grow our Chamber. Whether growing a business team, or a chamber team, Moore and Patrick shared some examples of other Chambers and how they worked to remain strong resources in their communities. High on the list of suggestions was the need to work in partnership with both the State Chamber of Commerce and National Chamber. We are seeking to do just that in Fultondale, Gardendale, and the entire North Jefferson area. The best way to accomplish this is to develop a Government Affairs Team within the Chamber. This team will work on developing policy statements that will position the growth and sustainability of local business, and ultimately can work in partnership with the teams of sister cities in the North Jefferson area. This type of grass roots partnership will help drive outcomes for our legislative and local leadership, help us stay on top of timely and relevant issues to our community, and formulate a supportive infrastructure for government in our community.

The big message from Moore and Patrick was that while it is nice for a Chamber to support events in a town, the real work is to create true value in the area of leadership. Interestingly, 97% of State Chamber members have 10 or less employees
88% of US Chamber members have 10 or less employees. Most small businesses join Chambers to insure that they have a voice, and you can really cement that happening when you join and take an active role.

According to the US Chamber, small Chambers are key to holding people accountable and the focus of a Chamber should be less on the benefits and service, and more on creating value by increasing public policy involvement and working in economic development. Focus on these efforts will work to keep the Chamber of Commerce viable and relevant.

You can't Lead Where you won't Go

Congratulations! You have just been promoted to manager in your organization, and even better, you are now the leader of everyone that you use to work with in your company. Wow! What a challenge!

But, how do you go from being peer-partner to partner-leader? Much of how this transition will play out will be driven by the kind of leader that you were BEFORE you were promoted. No matter where you are in an organization, you are in fact a leader. You may be the Consensus Builder, or you may be the Keeper of the Trust of the team. You may be the Quiet Leader that everyone feels comfortable around. You may be the Status Quo Breaker or the Question all the Logic kind of leader. You may be the “Why do we it that way?” kind of leader. At the end of the day, all are important to a team, but only one person can be the true out front, buck stops here leader when a promotion opportunity comes around. Company management does have a choice to go outside and avoid all of the political infighting that may come from promoting from within, but often you will see a true promotion up from the ranks as a highly motivating experience. In military terms, this “Field Grade Promotion” comes with recognition of leadership and character in adverse situations. Or it may mean that someone got a great offer, and just moved on, leaving a vacuum of leadership. Either way, what a great opportunity for the right person, so let’s take a moment to reflect on what it takes to navigate this challenging transition.

Keeping your team productive and hopeful during a new boss transition can be complex. Forging a workplace partnership is key to developing a loyal and engaged group. No pressure here, but trust in leadership is critical. According to a Gallup survey, people don’t just quit companies or leave because of compensation, they quit people. Getting on the employees bad side may be as simple as not asking for their opinions, not offering good feedback, or putting someone in a role that they are just not prepared to do and for which they are ill suited. People want fact-based praise and recognition for their work. And by the way, NOT scolding is not the same as offering lots of praise.

How do you keep employees from slowly disengaging and turning off? How do you keep them from becoming disillusioned and resigning inwardly? This does not happen immediately, but over the course of time during the routine work week. It is clearly important to keep motivation high.
The motivation level of employees has tangible economic ramifications for the company. In the group of engaged employees, there are lower rates of theft, fewer defective products, fewer work accidents, less employee turnover and lower levels of absenteeism. And those are only the direct costs. Motivated employees also work more productively, are more innovative and more responsive to customers. All these factors serve to increase the company's profitability. Highly engaged and motivated employees are also the ones with an elevated sense of emotional connection to their jobs. They feel valued and empowered.
Make no mistake, people like to work. According to a Gallup survey in Germany began in 2001, people were asked the following question, “If you were to inherit enough money to no longer need to work, would you continue with your job or would you quit?" As many as seven out of ten employees in Germany would not resign despite an inheritance that would provide them a financially carefree life. This indicates the fundamentally positive relationship between people and their work. Even two-thirds of those about to retire would continue working despite a large inheritance.
As you assume greater management responsibility, realize that these skills may not be that teachable. Just like social skills, and how we present our self as leaders, much is learned at the feet of our parents. Like it or not, we are taught how to treat others, and those early lessons may be a wonderful source to pull experience and insight. For others, they may be not so great to pull from in the work place. This is a primary driver behind the “Peter Principle” where a person is likely to be promoted to their highest level of inefficiency. In this respect, the best sales person can also be the worst manager. Selling skills and management skills are two distinct skills indeed.
Bottom-line, congratulations on your new responsibility. Keep your head up and your ethics higher. Seek out a mentor, and train yourself on the skills of leading others. Surround your self with a diverse and experienced team, praise them often, and get out of their way. Some of best leaders, both past and present, were only as good as the team that they were surrounded by in their office.